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DELAND, Fla. – It will be a busy weekend for the Stetson University women’s tennis team as it hosts both Mercer and Kennesaw State in matches on back-to-back days at the Mandy Stoll Tennis Center. The Hatters (10-5) will square off against the Bears at 4 p.m., Friday, Mar. 28 and then Saturday, Mar. 29 against the Owls at 10 a.m.

“All three teams this weekend are vying for a place in the conference championship, so I expect all of them to give their very best,” said Director of Stetson tennis Pierre Pilote.

Stetson enters the weekend with a 1-3 conference mark, having played four A-Sun opponents in its previous five matches. This will only be the second time this season one or more A-Sun teams have made the trip to DeLand.

Mercer comes into the weekend with an 8-9 mark and a 2-0 record in A-Sun play, having won three in a row, while KSU stands at 5-8 and 1-1 and is losers of two straight.

“We surely need to get back on our winning ways in doubles because it hasn’t escaped anyone’s attention that we have lost all five matches in which we dropped the doubles point,” Pilote said of his team’s mission this Friday and Saturday. “In singles, I am looking for some of our players to raise their level of intensity.”

Stetson has played two matches in two days before, as split contests with USC Upstate and ETSU (Mar. 14-15) away from DeLand. This will be the first time Pilote’s squad tests themselves against the two in two format at home this season.

“The two matches in two days will be good preparation for a possible participation in the conference championship,” Pilote explained. “That’s when we would have to play three matches on consecutive days to win the championship.”

Friday’s match with Mercer will be the last time Stetson meets up with the Bears as conference opponents as they will be leaving for the Southern Conference for the 2014-15 season. It will also be the Hatters’ annual ‘Pink Match’ to fight cancer.

Live Results will be available for all home matches via gohatters.com. Fans can also follow @StetsonTennis on Twitter and sign up for Hat-Alerts, the athletic department’s official text messaging system for match updates.